Kei Kamara: The Most Likable Guy in MLS?

Since the 2012 MLS season kicked off last month, our inbox has received a fair amount of emails from footy fans inquiring about everything from how they can watch the games to which team they should support. Now, we’re not here to tell you who to support. After all, isn’t that the purpose of flowcharts? (It is. Rhetorical question) But if you’re like me, then an individual player can catch your eye and convert you into a supporter of a certain team. Almost a decade ago that player for me was Clint Dempsey in his rookie season with the New England Revolution.

But for relatively new MLS fans, I’m here to declare an unparalleled Most Likable Guy In MLS™ and his name is Kei Kamara of Sporting Kansas City. For those who don’t know anything about Kei, he was born in Sierra Leone and grew up in an unspeakable, war-torn environment. To make a long story short, Kei was able to attain refugee status, go to America, play soccer in high school and college, and then go pro. Not only is Kei’s story remarkable, but the man appreciates every day in a manner that we all can admire. Aside from his goal-poaching abilities, he’s a charismatic individual and an entertainer.

His fans love him for the goals that he scores, but the proceeding celebrations are almost better. You may have seen Kei’s St. Patrick’s Day-styled celebration a few weeks ago. This past weekend, Kei scored the match-winner for Sporting KC against the Los Angeles Galaxy and the finished the sequence off with an epic slow-motion celebration (above). When there are those making millions who hardly give 100% every week, it’s characters like this that we can all embrace. So here’s to Kei Kamara, a man who is exceedingly easy to support.

By the way, there are plenty of genuinely good guys in MLS. And if you’re entirely neutral at this point, then supporting Sporting KC isn’t a bad option by any stretch of the imagination. But that’s an article for a different occasion. [Posted by EB]